Background: As part of preparation for a Swedish multicentre study, exploring sexual and married life in patients with myocardial infarction and their partners, a Swedish validated instrument was required.Aims: The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of a Swedish version of the Watts Sexual Function Questionnaire (WSFQ) among persons with a heart disease.Methods: A convenience sample of 79 persons (47 men and 32 women) living with a heart disease was recruited from the members of the National Association of Heart and Lung Patients. They completed a Swedish version of the WSFQ on two occasions.Results: Two separate factor analyses each revealed a two-factor structure on both occasions: “Sexual appetite” and “Sexual expectations” with gender-neutral questions and “Sexual sensitiveness” and “Sexual ability” with gender-specific questions. Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from 0.48 to 0.86 and test–retest values for all but one question exceeded 0.70.Conclusions: The Swedish version of the WSFQ showed good validity and stability and acceptable internal homogeneity. Extended evaluations of the questionnaire are recommended.

BACKGROUND: There is a need for a short and easily administered scale, in the Swedish language, for assessing partner relationships in the health care of persons with cardiac disease. PURPOSE: To establish the reliability and validity of the Swedish version of the Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS). DESIGN: The present pilot study has a methodological design. FINDINGS: Content validity has been tested for relevance, clarity and readability. The scale was tested for construct validity with explorative factor analysis. The reliability was tested by internal consistency and test-retest analysis. The result showed a two-factor solution, which does not correspond to the original proposed one-factor solution. The factor analyses revealed two quite distinct factors of RAS, labelled "Relationship built on expectations and satisfaction of needs" and "Relationship built on love and devotion". CONCLUSIONS: The scale has satisfactory psychometric properties in terms of content validity, construct validity, homogeneity and stability in a population of persons with cardiac disease. Wider evaluations of the RAS for other populations and settings are recommended.